Ever had your brain convince you that you’re definitely about to be mugged? We’ve all been there – heart pounding, palms sweating, ready to fight or flight. But sometimes, the ‘villain’ chasing you has a very different agenda than you imagined.
晚上，王明走路回家。
他回头看了看。有一个男人在他后面。
王明走快一点。男人也走快一点。
王明跑起来。男人也跑起来。
王明跑不动了。他停下来，转过身，大声说：”你为什么跟着我！”
男人停下来。他伸出手。
王明的钱包在他手里。
“你掉了，”男人说。他也很累。
王明看着钱包。他看着男人。他不说话。
“谢谢，”王明说。
男人走了。
王明站在那里，看着他走远。
他想，我真是一个傻瓜。
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 回头 | huítóu | to turn one’s head, to look back |
| 跟着 | gēnzhe | to follow |
| 跑不动 | pǎobùdòng | can’t run anymore, too tired to run |
| 转过身 | zhuǎnguòshēn | to turn around |
| 伸出手 | shēnchūshǒu | to stretch out one’s hand |
| 钱包 | qiánbāo | wallet |
| 掉了 | diàole | dropped, fell |
| 傻瓜 | shǎguā | fool, idiot |
| 晚上 | wǎn shang | evening; night; CL:個|个[ge4]; in the evening |
| 王明 | Wáng Míng | Wang Ming (1904-1974), Soviet-trained Chinese communist, Comintern and Soviet stooge and left adventurist in the 1930s, fell out with Mao and moved to Soviet Union from 1956 |
| 走路 | zǒu lù | to walk; to go on foot; to leave; to depart; (informal) to clear off; to beat it; (of sb who gets fired or resigns) to leave the job; to get out |
| 回家 | huí jiā | to return home |
| 他 | tā | (third-person singular) (since the early 20th century, usu. male) he; him; his; (bound form) other; another; some other (as in 他日[ta1 ri4] and 他人[ta1 ren2]) |
| 看 | kān | to look after; to take care of; to watch; to guard |
| 了 | le | (completed action marker); (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now); (modal particle intensifying preceding clause); (bound form) clear in one's mind; to understand clearly |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is; (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意[you3 yi4] intentional) |
| 一个 | yī ge | a; an; one; the whole (afternoon, summer vacation etc) |
| 男人 | nán rén | a man; a male; men; CL:個|个[ge4] |
| 在 | zài | to exist; to be alive; (of sb or sth) to be (located) at; (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress) |
| 后 | Hòu | surname Hou; back; behind; rear; afterwards; after; later; post- |
| 面 | miàn | face; side; surface; aspect; top; classifier for objects with flat surfaces such as drums, mirrors, flags etc; variant of 麵|面[mian4]; flour; noodles; (of food) soft (not crunchy); (slang) (of a person) ineffectual; spineless |
| 走 | zǒu | to walk; to go; to run; to move (of vehicle); to visit; to leave; to go away; to die (euph.); from; through; away (in compound verbs, such as 撤走[che4 zou3]); to change (shape, form… |
| 快 | kuài | rapid; quick; speed; rate; soon; almost; to make haste; clever; sharp (of knives or wits); forthright; plainspoken; gratified; pleased; pleasant |
| 一点 | yī diǎn | a bit; a little bit; (used in negative expressions) (not) the least bit; (after an adjective, used to form the comparative) a bit more, -er; a point (in a discussion etc); (calligr… |
| 也 | Yě | surname Ye |
| 跑 | páo | (of an animal) to paw (the ground) |
| 起 | qǐ | to rise; to raise; to get up; to set out; to start; to appear; to launch; to initiate (action); to draft; to establish; to get (from a depot or counter); verb suffix, to start; sta… |
| 来 | lái | to come; (used as a substitute for a more specific verb); hither (directional complement for motion toward the speaker, as in 回來|回来[hui2 lai5]); ever since (as in 自古以來|自古以来[zi4 gu3… |
| 停 | tíng | to stop; to halt; to park (a car) |
| 下 | xià | down; downwards; below; lower; later; next (week etc); second (of two parts); to decline; to go down; to arrive at (a decision, conclusion etc); measure word to show the frequency … |
| 大声 | dà shēng | loud voice; in a loud voice; loudly |
| 说 | shuì | to persuade; variant of 說|说[shuo1] |
| 你 | nǐ | you (informal, as opposed to courteous 您[nin2]); you (Note: In Taiwan, 妳 is used to address females, but in mainland China, it is not commonly used. Instead, 你 is used to address both males and females.) |
| 为 | wéi | as (in the capacity of); to take sth as; to act as; to serve as; to behave as; to become; to be; to do; by (in the passive voice); variant of 為|为[wei2] |
| 什 | shén | what |
| 么 | má | exclamatory final particle; variant of 麼|么[me5] |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 的 | de | of; ~'s (possessive particle); (used after an attribute when it modifies a noun); (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis); (used after a noun, verb or adjective to… |
| 手里 | shǒu lǐ | in hand; (a situation is) in sb's hands |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) |
| 累 | lěi | to accumulate; to involve or implicate (Taiwan pr. [lei4]); continuous; repeated; rope; to bind together; to twist around |
| 着 | zhāo | variant of 著|着[zhao1]; a move in chess (Taiwan pr. [zhuo2]); trick; tactic; (dialect) okay; all right; (dialect) to put in; to add |
| 不 | bù | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- |
| 说话 | shuō huà | to speak; to say; to talk; to gossip; to tell stories; talk; word |
| 谢谢 | xiè xie | to thank; thanks; thank you |
| 站 | zhàn | station; to stand; to halt; to stop; branch of a company or organization; website |
| 那里 | nà li | there; that place |
| 远 | yuǎn | far; distant; remote; (intensifier in a comparison) by far; much (lower etc) |
| 想 | xiǎng | to think (about); to think of; to devise; to think (that); to believe (that); to desire; to want (to); to miss (feel wistful about the absence of) |
| 真是 | zhēn shi | indeed; truly; (coll.) (used to express disapproval, annoyance etc) |
In the evening, Wang Ming was walking home.
He looked back. There was a man behind him.
Wang Ming walked a little faster. The man also walked a little faster.
Wang Ming started running. The man also started running.
Wang Ming couldn’t run anymore. He stopped, turned around, and shouted: ‘Why are you following me!’
The man stopped. He stretched out his hand.
Wang Ming’s wallet was in his hand.
‘You dropped this,’ the man said. He was also very tired.
Wang Ming looked at the wallet. He looked at the man. He didn’t speak.
‘Thank you,’ Wang Ming said.
The man left.
Wang Ming stood there, watching him walk away.
He thought, I’m really a fool.